Improvement in signal-cartridges



,To all 'whom it mag/confiera:

` H ennv'ii. cosToN, or vi/n.sHiNGTON, nisTnio'T or coLUMBiA, VAssiofnoii To MARTHA J. (BOSTON, OF sAMnrLAOn IM PROVEM E N'r I ,N signin-CARTRIDGES."

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 1157,33@ dated November 20, 1377; application filed Septemberl), 1877. i i l f' Be it known that `I, vHannv CosToN,'of

' the city and county of Washington, and4 Districtv of Columbia, have inventednew and useful Aerial` Signals, or Cartridges,'or Shells,-

-adapted to be projected from guns or other lire-arms; andfI do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and 'enact description of the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, makin g part of this specitication, in which v Figure 1 is alongitudinal central section of a gun-barrel as it appears when loaded with one. of my signals, or shells, `or cartridges. 'Figa 2 is a sect-ion of the shell or cartridge as it appears before it is loaded or filled, showing,

f also, a modified.coustrnetionjof the inottem,

adapting it for breecl'i-loading iire-arins. Fig. 3'is a central section of the lower part of said shell, showing another modification of a. bottom and-a modiicationfof the firing device. Fig. 4 is a bottom view of Aone vof my signal- Fig` 5 is an illustration of the opcartridges. eration of my invention. Fig. 6 is Va chart of one of the signal-codes made for the use of my signals.

' My invention relates to van improvement on the stationary Coston telegraphic night-signals, ais-,now used. in the United States and French naval service.

The nature of- :my invention consists, iirst,' in a signal which shows colorswhile burning in the air, according to agiven code, applied within a case which is adapted for being placedV 4in a gun or other fire-arm, and for having'its contents ignited by the spark or fire of the gun-cap or concussion produced by-aiiringpiu upon a'cap or priming, and when thus ignitcd has its signal lcomposition projected into Athe air and set on tire-by powder within .the

case.

lt consists, second, in a signal Whiclisliows one or more colors while burning in the air, constructed within a case which is adapted for being placed iii a gunor other fire-arm, and

for having its contents ignited by the direct iii-e of an exploded cap `or primer on 'the guning signaling composition discharged from the case, so as to signal :wcoiding to a given'code.

'signaling composition. i

' Itconsists,^ fh, ina signal shell or case shell or case, which, is constructed tocontain' UNITED lSTATiiis OFFICE.

the signaling composition and protect it' from injury, and which shell is adapted for use either in a muzzle-loading or a breech-loading iire` arm. Y

It consist-s, fourth, in apyrotechnic signalshell having its propelling-charge of powder capable of ignition from the ordinary percussion-cap, or iii'ing-pin, or priming of a fire-min,

which charge, Ywhen ignited,sets on iire'the with a capped or otherwise primed main propelling-charge, anda fuse or Vquick-match, or

siinilar connection forzcoinmunicatingthe fire,

inproper tiine,.to other charges, for igniting and-.propellingthe signaling composition.

It consists,sixth, in ashell, as hereinafter described, properly constructed to., l ieep the said charges and their coin'inunicating composition in place.. v i

It consists, seventh, in arranging the said charges for propelling and igniting the signaling composition, and the blocks of the said signaling composition, 4with movablepartitions of'incombustible material, whereby the' sev- 'eral blocks or'charges of signaling composition are ignited successively, and arekept propthus 'are'prevented' I erlyapart when ignited, and from blending.

. It consists, eighth, in a shell provided with diaphragm for separating the powder-charges,

said diaphragm being suiliciently strong to sustain the shocks of the explosionon both sides. f

It consists, ninth, ina shell containing the signaling composition, and an explosion-chamber for its propelling-powder.

By my invention I am enabled to protect the signaling composition and the ignitingfuse and propelling and expelling charges fromy injury at all tiincs, and ain also enabledto r'e the signals either from a muzzle-loading or a breechloading fire-arm, in any direction, and to airy desired altitude. A

In the drawings, A represeiits a gun, having a barrel with a diameter of bore adapted iJor the size of the signals, and .an ordinary lock, haninier, nipple u., and vent-al.l B is the case of va signaling cartridge or shell, preferably made of metal, andof cylindricalv shape. 'It 1 z 2 l remesa has a central tube, b, and near the Abottom a iiapliragin, b. The bottoni bz ot the cartridge may be made of pasteboard when in the form represented in Fig. 1, or of tin or other suitable metal, when made in forms as in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings. The chamber @,lornied between the diapl'iragm bl and the bottoni1b2,`is filled with powder, and the center of the bottoni b2 provided eit-lier with fnlniinate c', as shown in Figs. l and 2, or with a guncap, ci,

placed in a receptacle, b?, formedin the bot tom b2, as -.in Fig. 3, for the purpose of ignitingthe powder. In the iirst two cases the fulmina-te is ignited'by the tiring ofA the cap a?. rElie third, as in Figr, is especially adapted [for the use of breech-loading guns with central tiring-pins. I intend, lin practice, to adopt any mode suitable for ignit-ing the powder in the chamber C.

Thebottoin bz (shown in Fig. 2) is made the shape and size of an ordinary cart-ridge bottom for a brcech-l0ader,and is slipped over the lower end of the case B, and thus serves .to centrally steady thc,case in the explosionchamber of: the gun: lhe fulminate c is pro.

. tcct-ed, during transportation of the shell, by a strip of water-repellent fabric or paper, c, which is torn oil' before the signals are to be used. Above the diaphragm b another charge of gnnpowder, d, is placed. Above the pow-- der d, I Aplace a block of composition, l), for a green light, 'Above the green lighta block,`

E, of light i'ncombustiblc material is placed,

` and above this a charge of gunpowder, c; then a block, F, of white-light composition; then a block of incombnstible material, Gr; then a charge of gunpowder, g,- thena block, II, o f red-light composition 5 then a loosefdiaphragm, z', of inconibustible matter; then a charge of fnlminate, or gun or riiie powder, I; and, lastly,

` al protecting-cap, J, of wood or. other suitable material, which is' partly ftted into the case Band is provided with a chamber, `@for the powder-charge L The diaphragm b1 and the tube b are formed of one piecc,orof two or more pieces very carefully united, so as to aiiord no leakage to the fire of the.explodingpowder below, or of the burning fuse in thev tube b' The tube-terminates at thc top of the diaphragm lr, and" it is,

part of its length, charged with fuse composition K, whil'etlie remaining' upper part contains a quiclr`-inatch, L.

The described charges of the case B are loosely lfitted in place around the tube vb, so

that an igniting-'channel for the passage of the burning powder between the tube and the blocks is `formed, and so that they may easily leave the case when exploded.

The colors or colored compositions 'D F H are arranged according to a code -for signaling between different parties, and I have shown `in Fig. 6 a chart of a code for this purpose. In this chart the colorcdcompositions are named, and the blank spaces between them and above the diaphragm bl signify inc onibustible compositions for separating the signa-lin g compositions, while the double lines signify from cannot be discovered by the enemy.

Operation: lIhe tape c2 is removed from the bottoni of the shell Il, and the Agun A charged ,with the shell. A percussion-cap, a2, is then .exploded on the nipple a of thegun, the fire of which cap ignites the fnlminate cin the bott-oni b2 of the case B. This causes the powder in the chamber C to explode and force the case or shell B out of the gun and up into the air,'leaving the bottom bz behind. Thesaid vexplosion ignites 'also the fuse K, which assists thc signal-shell in ascending to the proper height, and then ignites-the quick-match Ii. The quick-match Il ignites the powder-charge I, which explodes and throws' nii the cap J,

-and ignites the other powderc`harges g e d by lpassing between the outside of the tube b and the inside 'ofthecomposition blocks, and thus the signal-composition blocks H F Dare ig nitcd, and which, having been expelled from the case at a great elevation, are clearly seen` lat a great distance.

'lhe materialjfused for the case-I3, tube b,

diaphragm b,and other parts of thc cartridgemay be any suitable metal, alloy, orcomposition. The ignition ot the powder-charge in the chamber C may beeii'ected `by-any other suitable devices, than the percussion-cap and iiring-pin. f v 1 The incombustible blocks E G, whereby the signal-lights are kept at proper .distances apart, may be made of clay or any suitable composition, 4and of any proper thickness'. I have described signals constructed in shells `or cases, which are projected into the air with the signalsjthcrein, and the signals afterward expelled therefrom. I, howeveiyydo not confine my invention to such signalshells, as the construction of a capped or primed shell with signals in it was not known prior to the invention thereof by myself, as I believe.

Having describedmy invention, whatIclaim,

vand desire to secure by- Letters Patent, is-

1. .An aerial pyrotechnic signal .applied in a case having apriming or cap, which is ignited by the aidof the gun withinwhich it is placed,

and is elevated into the air by the explosion of gunpowder contained within the signallcase, and which, when in the air and burning outside of its casefserves for signaling 'accordin g to a given adopted code, substantially as described. I

, 2. A 'pyrotechnic signal which shows one or '-niore'colors while burning Ain the air, applied In 'this figure, A

within a case which is adapted for being placed in a gun or'other fire-arm and,y for having-its contents ignited. by the d ploded :cap o'r priiner' on the gun1ipp1e,;or on the end; of the signal-case, and when thus ignited is', with the case, projected into the air, v

and, while infthe air, has its burning signal ing composition discharged from the case, so

. as to signal according 'to a-given code,-subrV stantially' as set forth.

3. 'A vpyrotechnic signalf'ashell or case having apercussion cap 'or priming on its bottom, and

containing signaling composition oreom'positions, and made of metal orother material inipervious to water, said signal-shell being madev either with orwithout a flange, 'and adapted'- for use either in a 'muzzle-loading or a breechloading fire-arm, and is expelled, either in part or whole, from the fire-arm when its eharge'of v. gunpowder scribed. j .v

. 4.- A-"pyroteclniic 'signal-shell having its isignited,` substantiall5Y as depropelling-charge of powder capable of ignition from t-he ordinary percussion-cap or firing-pintof a :fire-arm, which charge, 'when 1gv nited," ejxpels thee-ase., eitherin whole or inpart,

A andv set 's on 'lire the signaling composition, sub! charge of Hguiipo \"der for its own pro- 1011, a'iire communicating and propelling {nick-match, and aset of. gunpowder-` irect fire of an ex-y for the propulsion andignitonoff-af tions D F H, the intermediate incoinbustille ypartitions E G fi, and the gunpowdercharges d e. g I, arranged substantially as and for the purpose set fort-h. 1

8. In the lsignal-carrymg projectile-case B, the diaphragm bl, whereby the gunpowdercharge for propelling the projectile in thel air and the gunpowder charge or chargesfor propolling the signals into thel air are kept separate from each other while not ignited, sub- I stantially as set fort-h.

9. A signal or signal compositions placed in a capped or primed case above acharge of powder, and kept apart from said charge of powder bymeans of a transverse separating device integral with the case, substantially as described. f

7itness' my hand, in the matterof my appli# cation for a patent for aerial signals, or eartridges, o r's'hells projected from gnns or other ire-arins, this 4th day ofAugust, D. 1 877. 'j H. n. oos'roN.

.. Wi'tne'sses: n CLARENCE PETERS, a CHAs. BENNER. 

